He Invested in Bonds but Won’t Cash In

What are the odds? Home runs No. 660 and 661 by Barry Bonds were retrieved by the same person.

Larry Ellison, 53, who often attends San Francisco Giant games wearing an Arnold Schwarzenegger mask and T-shirt, was in his kayak in McCovey Cove adjacent to SBC Park when Bonds tied Willie Mays for third on the all-time home-run list Monday. And he was there again Tuesday night when Bonds passed Mays.

What are the odds of Ellison not trying to cash in on either souvenir? Ellison gave the first ball to Bonds and said he would keep the second. He said he was not interested in selling it.

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One way to screen calls: Associated Press reported anyone trying to call Ellison on Wednesday was having a hard time. His phone message said, “My cellphone is dead, since it got wet in McCovey Cove last night and got soaked with salt water.”

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Trivia time: What became of the ball Bonds hit for his record-setting 73rd home run in 2001?

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Jewelry department: Of the Florida Marlins’ World Series rings, which cost $46,000 each, Greg Cote of the Miami Herald writes: “Those rings aren’t ostentatious or gaudy at all. At least that’s what I was told by the curator of the Liberace estate.”

Also from Cote: “Good news. A missing Marlin World Series ring has been found. Unfortunately, police had to evict the homeless family living inside it.”

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Another ring shot: Of the Marlins’ rings, Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune calls them “a hunk of jewelry so gaudy it makes the engagement ring Jennifer Lopez received from Ben Affleck look like something out of a Cracker Jack box.”

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Lot of clues: Highlights of a David Letterman top-10 list, “Signs a Baseball Player Is Using Steroids”:

No. 10: This year he broke the home run record, last year he was a cellist.

No. 4: Can spit sunflower seeds 95 mph.

No. 1: Makes Schwarzenegger look like Carrot Top.

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Icebreaker: From the Caught on the Fly column in the Sporting News: “MLS Commissioner Don Garber says 14-year-old Freddy Adu isn’t soccer’s savior because ‘the sport doesn’t need to be saved.’ Yeah, and the Titanic didn’t need lifeboats.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1991, Magic Johnson, needing nine assists to break Oscar Robertson’s record of 9,887, got 19 in a game against Dallas.

Johnson is now third with 10,141 assists. John Stockton is No. 1 with 15,806, and Mark Jackson, who is still active, is No. 2 with 10,215.

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Trivia answer: Two men in the stands fought over the ball and went to court to determine who owned it. After a year of litigation, a judge ordered them to sell it and split the proceeds. The ball was auctioned off for $450,000.

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And finally: Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona, telling reporters what motivates Curt Schilling: “It could be Bobblehead Day; he’ll find something to get revved up about.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.